Featured on CSC’s List of Top Non-Toxic Black Beauty Brands and Non-Toxic Black Beauty Database, we spoke to the founders of Sabreen Cosmetics, sisters Saliah, Najiyyah, and Kareemah Mustafa on how they curated a clean luxury beauty brand to inspire women to live life unapologetically. BE UNAPOLOGETIC ™
The Story of Sabreen Cosmetics
Sabreen Cosmetics was founded in 2016 by sisters Saliah, Najiyyah, and Kareemah Mustafa to honor the life and legacy of their beloved aunt, Nabeehah Sabreen. Nabeehah fought a valiant battle against breast cancer until 2009, and Sabreen Cosmetics carries on her legacy of living life unapologetically. Nicknamed “precious gold” by her mother, Nabeehah was known for her unmatched opulent style, bold personality, and heart of pure gold. She lived life on her own terms and proudly embraced her Black American heritage through her dynamic work as a fashion connoisseur, wellness expert, and social justice advocate. Her impact is still felt today, and Sabreen Cosmetics is proud to embody her powerful values: “To live life on our own terms, to be unapologetic.”
Today, Sabreen Cosmetics is living up to its reputation as a leading clean luxury cosmetic brand. Sabreen has partnered with Greenspark’s Eden Reforestation Project, which plants a tree with each purchase. The brand’s products are Leaping Bunny, PETA-Certified & Good Face Project approved, and their formulas are developed using the European Union’s standards of cosmetics ingredients, which are the strictest standards in the world of clean beauty.
As one of our featured brands on CSC’s List of Top Non-Toxic Black-Owned Beauty Brands, Sabreen Cosmetics’ products are free of the harmful ingredients on CSC’s Red List of Chemicals of Concern in Cosmetics, which includes chemicals of particular concern for Black women. This list allows Black women to shop for beauty products with confidence knowing that the products they’re purchasing are free of ingredients linked to negative health effects, including those of special concern to Black women.
We asked Saliah, Najiyyah, and Kareemah about their work:
What brought you to create beauty products without harmful ingredients?
When creating Sabreen Cosmetics, we made a shocking discovery: according to EWG, roughly 75% of products marketed to Black women are toxic. This inspired us to create luxury, clean, and sustainable beauty products that are safe for consumers and the earth while also maintaining efficacy and quality. Today, our products are Leaping Bunny, PETA-Certified and Good Face Project Approved. We curate our formulas using the European Union’s standards of cosmetic ingredients, which are the strictest standards in the world of clean beauty.
Why should people shop from clean beauty brands like yours?
Our vision is to curate luxury, classic and timeless products that women can use for generations.
Our mission is to inspire women to live life on their own terms, and to revel in the absolute freedom of being unapologetic.
We believe that luxury beauty should never compromise quality ingredients, exceptional performance, or ethics and should be safe for our patrons and the planet.
Tell us more about your brand’s products
We proudly curate our own formulas using the safest and ethically sourced colorants, free of toxic FD&C, Lakes, and Carmines, delivering the safest formulations for you and the earth.
We are also unapologetic when it comes to animal protection: any ingredients sourced from animals, animal by-products, or animal testing are strictly prohibited from our formulations.
We proudly encase our products in sustainable packaging. All products are packaged in recyclable components and utilize reusable luxury pouches for future storage to have minimal impact on the environment.
Are you actively involved in your local community? Do you have any professional affiliations?
Sabreen Cosmetics is involved in two philanthropic and sustainability initiatives. We have partnered with The Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation to raise awareness and charitable donations for cancer-related research treatments. We have also partnered with Greenspark’s Eden Reforestation Project. The project’s mission is to combat deforestation by employing local communities to plant trees, providing an empowering means to alleviate extreme poverty through environmental stewardship. The partnership enables us to plant one tree with every purchase from our patrons. Both partnerships are important to the brand ethos and our patrons. Sabreen Cosmetics is also Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Certified.
Where can your products be found?
Our products can be purchased directly on our website, www.sabreencosmetics.com.
Sabreen Cosmetics products can also be found via our exclusive stockists, Verishop, Yuty, and Terra Collective.
Want more?
- Check out our Black Beauty Database for other, safer-made, non-toxic Black-owned products.
- Get our top tips for finding safer cosmetic products wherever you shop!